Would you rent in our position? What are the pro's/con's of renting?

[GoldenSunset]

We currently own a house that I hate living in due to the neighbours from hell. They have vandalised our car amongst other things and they are horrible nasty people who scare me.

We have the option of selling, which will bring us enough money to pay the solicitors,EA and clear the mortgage.

Selling would mean renting forever as we would never be able to afford a deposit again.

DH is set against renting. He wants to bear with it where we are and wait till the prices increase, sell in roughly ten years and buy somewhere in a better area.

I want to go now. I want to leave the stress and fear behind. Walk out the front door and never have to see my neighbours again. Renting would also mean we live in a better area which means a better school for dd when she's older.

Is renting as bad as what DH thinks? He thinks we will constantly have to move house and we will have to get rid of our dog. He says the house will never feel like our own.

He is also worried long term, we are in our late 20's and he thinks we will have no decent pension provision if we opt of the housing market. He has a point as we are not guarnateed state penion when we are older and both our occupational salarys are no longer final salary. But I think that's way to far ahead to be ruling how we live now. He also worries about how we would pay rent once we are a lot older wheras a mortage would reduce over the years, he's worried as rent gets dearer.

Sorry for rambling - advice gratefully recieved.

[rebl]

Your situation sounds awful. Is there a reason why you can't buy, maybe downsize so you can afford it?

Or maybe move into rented but don't sell your place, rent it out?

I'd be surprised if you had to wait 10 years, the housing market will pick up sooner than that I hope but I can totally understand why you don't want to wait another minute where you are.

[GoldenSunset]

I don't think we could afford to downsize tbh.

We have considered renting our house but I don't think we could get a tennant to stay here. I think they would want to get out as well.

DH wants to stay 10years so we have payed a bit off the mortgage

[GoldenSunset]

I have my fingers crossed for the housing market as well rebel

[GoldenSunset]

bump

[GoldenSunset]

To downsize we would need to find enough for another deposit, is that right?

[HouseHunting]

We have the option of selling, which will bring us enough money to pay the solicitors,EA and clear the mortgage - okay, if you do not clear the mortgage completely you could use the money for a deposit (assuming there would be enough).
It must be awful living next door to nightmare neighbours - good luck with it all.

[hermykne]

sell, europeans dont buy into the whole owning your own property thing , nothing wrong with renting in my view.
perhaps u could set aside funds for a deposit and in 10 yrs think about buying then. with a good credit history.
my sis has been renting for 8 yrs thought she'd buy, now gkad she didnt and continues to rent.
your sanity is worth a whole lot more than a house

[MrsBoo]

We are about to sell, and start renting as it will be cheaper for a while.
I dont know either if we will ever be mortgage slaves again either. We only had 12 years left on our current deal, but we need the money quickly for something else so have no choice but to sell now and walk away.

[Squishabelle]

How long have you lived in the house? To downsize you would probably have to pay a deposit but will there not be enough left over from your current house when it is sold?

[LissyGlitter]

Renting is pretty good really, you just have to be a bit fussy about what house you rent, as there are some shockers about, especially in studenty areas.

Pros: Easier to move in, no worries about things like boilers breaking down, I presume housing benefit etc would be easier to sort out if you found yourself losing your jobs or whatever, an awful lot easier to move out if you get offered a job elsewhere or whatever.

Cons: You are reliant on the landlord to sort out repairs etc, and have to put up with their choices for things like boilers, which they often go for the cheapest instead of the most effective. Sometimes you aren't allowed to decorate (although that seems to be pretty rare), you might find it hard finding somewhere that will allow animals

The ideal renting situation is a nice house in a nice area, owned by a housing association (you don't have to be on benefits) as the rent is a lot cheaper (generally less than half the going rate) and you have a lot more security, as well as them having a department specially for repairs. Also you can pretty much do what you like to the house and even sometimes get money for improvements. However, the waiting lists and faffing about to actually get a house are a problem.

At the moment, I can't see us ever getting a mortgage, and it doesn't really bother me. I would like to get a HA house or rent off a relative or something though, just for the greater security.

[LissyGlitter]

DogAgain- do you not have a 12 month contract? Are they allowed to do that? I didn't think they were.

[Morosky]

We lived in a town we hated and sold up knowing that it may be a while before we could buy again. We do have money in the bank at the moment for a deposit but want to have a larger deposit to buy a bigger house.

We rent at the moment and although at first I found it strange it does not bother me now. The house we live in would just never come up for sale and it is IMO quite a special place. Even if it were to come up for sale I doubt we could afford it and we would certainly be paying more than we do in rent. We have security as the house is very very unlikely to be sold, it is a lodge house on an estate.

I worry a little about pensions, I have a secure teachers pension but dp has very little provision. We are going to start trying to concieve soon and if successful this house will be too small, so we may have to move in a few years and that may be when we buy again.

I would not stay somewhere I was happy simply to have a foot on the property ladder, life is too short.

[Morosky]

We have a dog, cats and fish and are considering more animals. Living somewhere rural having animals has not been a problem. INfact our landlady loves our dog and is glad to have 2 mice catching cats on site.

[KingCnutBoredOfDMButWontLetGo]

Talk to a decent mortgage adviser, you may be able to port your mortgage to a new property, if you do it right it could be your way out. You may have to look at either downsizing or upping the amount you borrow (which may not be easy in the current climate). However, the housing market is changing right now so a good adviser should be able to tell you a) what your options are now and b) how your options could be set to change over the foreseeable future - certainly I would expect things to change in less than 10 years!

It is pointless guessing, mortgages and the options available to a mortgage holder are very complex. You need someone who really knows how it works. Good luck

[GoldenSunset]

I think speaking to a mortgage advisor is a good idea.

I guess everyone has different views of renting. DH is not wavering.

[AnAuntieNotAMum]

If I had to deal with stress and fear every day I would definitely move and take the risk of renting. Presumably he does not experience the same feelings of distress? Certainly it's true that it's harder to find a rental with a dog and landlords can sell up/go bust hence forcing you to move at short notice.

Financially, you would not necessarily be better off owning rather than renting so long as you saved diligently. Over the past ten years it's true that savings in any asset class have not managed to keep up with property inflation, but this might not be the case over the next ten years. A repayment mortgage is really just a savings scheme (albeit with an excellent rate of interest if you catch the market when it's rising!) Although, cash is not a great thing to hold at the moment given the government policy of printing money quantitative easing,saving diligently would probably get you enough for another deposit.

Presume you have a repayment rather than interest only mortgage?

If you want the argument for renting, you could try looking at housepricecrash.co.uk - be warned, there are a lot of misogynist, disgruntled posters on there but there are also people who speak good economic sense and might be able to help you run forecasts as to your likely position of owning vs renting over the next 5 or 10 years.

[lowrib]

But why do you need to sell the house? Couldn't you rent your house out and use the money toward rent at a new place, until you're in a position to sell?

I can't afford to sell my flat right now, but we've outgrown it, so I'm going to rent it out and live in a rented place for the next few years, until it makes sense to sell. I don't want to lose my investment, but I don't want to live there, so this is the best of both worlds.

[AnAuntieNotAMum]

lowrib - op already stated that her neighbours from hell make it unlikely that tenants would stick around. If she gets voids then she will presumably end up in debt.

[GoldenSunset]

Thanks for the tip about that website AnAuntie off to have a look

[lowrib]

Sorry I didn't see that bit. This is a terrible situation though, there must be some way out.

OK then, lets explore some ideas ...

I think KingCnut's advice is really sound. Why not talk your options through with a mortgage advisor? I got my mortgage through London and Country www.lcplc.co.uk The describe themselves as "The UK's leading fee free mortgage and insurance brokers". I found them to be really good at taking the time to explain to me how things work, they were really patient with my zillions of questions, and they found me a good no obligation mortgage quote in the end. Why not give them a ring, it can't hurt (and won't cost) to talk it through with them - you may be pleasantly surprised.

What is your barrier to selling up and buying another house? Is it that you think you won't get another mortgage at all, or that you won't get one for enough money?

Or - back to renting - it's a long shot perhaps but are there any kind of tenants who might be able to put up with your neighbours? What if you rented at under the market price? Or what about if you rented to students and just assume they'll move out at the end of each school year?

[GoldenSunset]

London & country are also recommended on the money saver website so I'll definitely give them a ring and maybe we'll be able to port our mortgage to a cheaper property. That would be the ideal situation. Is it a realistic possibility though?

I think the barrier to buying another property is that we won't raise enough money from the sale of this house to cover a deposit on another. I think we will just about break even after clearing the mortgage and paying fees.

I think renting out this house carries too many risks. If we lost a tenant due to our neighbours, which is highly likely we would have pay a mortgage on this house and the rent on the property we were living in, which is not financially possible. Although I did see an advert in the paper for a letting agency who offered 'fixed term' rentals where they pay your rent for two years even if they haven't found you a tennent - it seemed too good to be true though, does anyone know anything about these offers?

Thanks everyone for taking the time to go through the options, it really does help 'talking' to people who have a better understanding of our options

AnAuntie - Houseprice.co.uk contains a lot of very useful information, thanks

[lowrib]

Right then, you need to know where you stand. Have you had a recent valuation on your property? Get an estate agent (or 3) round to value it, so you know how much you might have for a deposit.

Speak to the mortgage advisors about mortgages with low deposits too.

[Fizzylemonade]

We also have our mortgage through London and Country. Have used them for years after they were recommended on Money Saving Expert.

They are lovely and even rang me when it was convenient for me (ie when ds1 was asleep for day time nap)

Re the fixed term rentals, we rented through a company who did this, but the area we lived in was highly sort after so properties weren't unoccupied for long so they could cover their costs. I believe their charge was 14% commision of the rent.

We also in the past rented through a "introduction only" agency so they do all the advertising/checking then once the tenancy was agreed and signed they handed over to the landlord who dealt with it directly. I don't know what they charged for their services.

In terms of neighbours from hell, get out before it escalates. You will have to declare any problems you have had but only those you have reported to the police or council etc.

Advice on the neighbours front, try www.gardenlaw.co.uk and you can see how bad it can get

If renting is the only option then you I think you should consider it. I would just to get out.